Location based sharing of a network access credential

Abstract

A network access credential can be shared among devices based on location information for a device. Location information can include timed fingerprint location information. In an aspect, location information can be associated with a location of user equipment. This location information can be correlated with network access credentials. Location information can be used to access a relevant network access credential. The relevant network access credential can be shared with other devices. In an embodiment, sharing a network access credential can be between mobile devices. In another embodiment, sharing a network access credential can be between a remote computing device and a mobile device. Sharing a credential can allow for access to a network without having to generate or input new credentials.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 facilitating, by a first user equipment comprising a processor, wirelessly sharing, with a second user equipment via a short-range communications interface, a network access credential for a wireless local area network, to allow the second user equipment to access a network device that is part of the wireless local area network, wherein facilitating the wirelessly sharing comprises:
 facilitating, by the first user equipment, receiving, via the short-range communications interface, a network access credential request, 
 selecting, by the first user equipment, the network access credential based on a user equipment location, and 
 determining, by the first user equipment, whether the second user equipment has permission to access the wireless local area network, based on a user identity associated with the second user equipment. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising facilitating, by the first user equipment, communicating, via the short-range communications interface, the network access credential to the second user equipment. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user equipment location comprises a location of the second user equipment. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the second user equipment has the permission comprises determining whether the second user equipment is a member of a group of devices indicated have permission to access the network device of the wireless local area network. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the second user equipment has the permission comprises determining whether the second user equipment is a member of a group of devices indicated to be prohibited to access the network device of the wireless local area network. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the second user equipment has the permission comprises accessing historical network access information related to a previous access to the network device of the wireless local area network, wherein the previous access is from prior to determining whether the second user equipment has the permission. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the second user equipment has the permission comprises identifying the second user equipment as a device associated with the user identity. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network access credential request comprises subscriber identity module information, and wherein determining whether the second user equipment has permission to access the wireless local area network comprises performing a comparison using the subscriber identity module information. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the short-range communications interface communicates according to a Bluetooth wireless protocol or a Wi-Fi protocol. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network access credential comprises a Wi-Fi key, a wired equivalent privacy key, a Wi-Fi protected access key, or a Wi-Fi protected access II key. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network access credential comprises a service set identifier and a Wi-Fi protected access II key that are able to be used by the second user equipment to identify and access the network device of the wireless local area network. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein facilitating the wirelessly sharing further comprises determining that the second user equipment is within a defined effective range to share the network access credential. 
     
     
         13 . A first user equipment, comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 determining whether a second user equipment has a permission to access an access point device, which is part of a wireless local area network, in a region associated with the first user equipment, based on historical network access information related to a previous access to the access point device of the wireless local area network; and 
 in response to the determining indicating that the second user equipment has the permission to access the access point device, selecting a network access credential and wirelessly sharing, via a short-range communications interface, the network access credential with the second user equipment. 
   
     
     
         14 . The first user equipment of  claim 13 , wherein the determining whether the second user equipment has the permission is further based on a user identity associated with the second user equipment. 
     
     
         15 . The first user equipment of  claim 13 , wherein selecting the network access credential is based on user equipment location information. 
     
     
         16 . The first user equipment of  claim 15 , wherein the user equipment location information comprises location information associated with a location of the second user equipment. 
     
     
         17 . The first user equipment device of  claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving a network access credential request comprising second user equipment subscriber identity module information. 
     
     
         18 . The first user equipment of  claim 13 , wherein the short-range communications interface implements a wireless protocol from a group of wireless protocols, the group of wireless protocols comprising a Bluetooth protocol and a Wi-Fi protocol. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a first mobile device, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 receiving, via a short-range communications interface from a second mobile device, request data representative of a network access credential request applicable to network equipment of a wireless local area network, to enable the second mobile device to access the network equipment of the wireless local area network;   selecting a network access credential based on a mobile device location;   determining that the second mobile device is permitted to access the network equipment, based on a user identity determined to be associated with the second mobile device; and   in response to the determining, sending the network access credential to the second mobile device via the short-range communications interface.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the network access credential comprises a Wi-Fi key to enable the second mobile device to access the network equipment.